Painkillers May Ease Marijuana Side Effects

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Pain relievers found in many medicine cabinets may help prevent
some of the learning and memory problems often experienced by
people who regularly use medical marijuana, a new study suggests.

In a series of experiments done on mice, researchers found they
could prevent or lessen marijuana's
cognitive side effects by giving the drug's active
ingredient, a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
in combination with either Celebrex, a prescription pain
reliever, or ibuprofen, an over-the-counter nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).

"Our findings suggest that the unwanted side effects of cannabis
could be eliminated or reduced, while its beneficial effects can
be retained," said study researcher Chu Chen, a professor of
neuroscience at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
in New Orleans. [ Trippy
Tales: The History of 8 Hallucinogens ]

Chen said his team is planning to continue their research in
humans in the near future, to see if the findings hold true.

The findings were published online today (Nov. 21) in the journal
Cell.

Preventing side effects

Marijuana
has been used as a medical treatment for a few thousand years,
Chen said. The drug has been used to ease symptoms for everything
from chronic pain and multiple sclerosis to cancer and seizure
disorders.

However, the
unwanted effects of cannabis greatly limit its medical use,
Chen told LiveScience. So his research team set out to understand
the molecular mechanisms underlying these adverse effects.

The researchers found that mice treated with THC had an increase
in levels of a chemical called cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the
hippocampus, a partof the brain involved in memory and learning.

"We uncovered the riddle of the marijuana-caused adverse effects,
and its signaling pathway," Chen said.

This led the researchers to test the effects of giving the mice
drugs that lower COX-2 levels, including Celebrex and ibuprofen.

The findings suggest that giving people a COX-2 inhibitor drug
along with medical marijuana may help to reduce the memory and
learning problems linked with its long-term treatment, the
researchers said.

But further testing is needed in human clinical trials. At this
point, it's still too early to determine the dose or frequency of
Celebrex or ibuprofen that could be given to prevent
marijuana-induced side effects, or to say when the pain relievers
should be taken, Chen said.

Broader medical use

Marinol is the brand name of the prescription marijuana
medication currently approved in the United Statesto treat the
nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.

But some people are put off by the memory loss, confusion and
sleepiness that can come with regularly taking Marinol, which
greatly limits its use.

Based on the new findings, researchers may be able to broaden the
medical
use of marijuana by reducing its undesirable effects while
retaining its beneficial properties, Chen said.

Chen said he suspects his findings can be applied to both Marinol
and the smokable form of medical marijuana, which is now legal in
some states. But he cautioned that smoking pot may also affect
the lungs, a reason why some pharmaceutical manufacturers have
developed a spray form of cannabis that is spritzed into the
mouth.

When asked whether these findings might apply to people who smoke
pot recreationally, Chen said it depends on how much marijuana
they use.

"The memory impairments occur only in people who use marijuana
heavily," he said.